International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET)
e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 06 Issue: 01 | Jan 2019
p-ISSN: 2395-0072
www.irjet.net
Analysis of Moisture Absorption of Wheat using Solar Dryer
Sivamurugan. K1, Saravanakumar. R2, Saravanan. S.T3
1Lecturer
(S.S), Dept of Mechanical Engineering, VSVN Polytechnic College, Tamilnadu, India
Dept of Plastic Technology, VSVN Polytechnic College, Tamilnadu, India
3Lecturer (S.S), Dept of Plastic Technology, VSVN Polytechnic College, Tamilnadu, India
---------------------------------------------------------------------***---------------------------------------------------------------------2Lecturer,
Abstract - Drying of grains in the open sun is a very
as inlet and outlet temperature of air in solar collector, inlet
of the drying chamber, above the tray and at the outlet of the
drying chamber.
common practice. For commercial purpose required to
increase the drying efficiency, maintaining quality of the grain
by reducing the space requirement and manage drying
operation during the available sunny period. These
requirements cannot be met by the ordinary open sun drying
method, to obtain the uniform drying by means of device
known as solar dryer which use energy from the sun.
1.2 Principle of Working
The dryer is a passive system in the sense that it has
no moving parts. It is energized by the sun rays entering
through the collector top plate (Glass with convex lenses).
The heat from the solar rays is observed by the inner surface
of the collector (G.I sheet) which is painted black and the
rays heats the air inside the collector. The atmospheric air at
room temperature enters through the inlet opening in the
collector. Therefore, atmospheric air at a temperature T a
enters through the inlet opening of the collector and the hot
air at a temperature Tc leaves through the outlet opening of
the collector. The solar intensity was measured by means of
a solarimeter placed at an inclination of 10o facing north.
When the suction fan runs, the hot air from the collector is
sucked through the outlet opening in collector and then
forced in to the drying chamber.
Key Words: Solar Dryer, Wheat, Moisture, Collector, suction
fan
1. NTRODUCTION
Solar dryer is designed to use the energy of the sun to heat
the air, that flows over the grains for drying. In heated air,
relative humidity decreases, so it is able to hold more
moisture. In this solar dryer, experiments have been
conducted to find the removal of moisture for safe storage of
wheat. This solar dryer was designed and fabricated with
collector area of 0.405m2.All non-renewable energy
resources like coal, oil etc, may not be available in future for
our requirement. At that time, we have to go for nonconventional energy sources. One of the source is solar
energy. Scientists and technologies are doing so much
research for utilizing solar energy in various forms.
The dryer was loaded with wheat and its weight was
measured at the starting. Then the hot air is allowed to flow
through the flexible pipe to the drying chamber and it flows
over the grains which are placed on the trays. At that time
the hot air removes the moisture content from the wheat
grains and it is dried. The initial weight and the final weight
of wheat grains are measured for every half an hour. The
weight loss was used to calculate the moisture removed in
Kg of wheat. The dryer performance was evaluated using the
drying rate and collector efficiency. The air with moisture
content flows out to the atmosphere through the outlet
opening in the drying chamber.
1.1 Description of Solar Dryer
Solar dryer is designed to use the energy of the sun
to heat the air, that flows over the grains for drying. It
consists of Collector, Suction fan, Drying chamber are the
main parts additionally solarimeter and digital thermometer
are used for measuring the solar radiation and temperature
of collector and drying chamber. The solar collector collects
the solar radiations through the glass and the convex lenses.
It is insulated with wood and it is coated with black paint to
observe more heat. Two openings are provided for inlet and
outlet of air. It is made up of Galvanized iron sheet. It has a
door on one side for loading and unloading of grains inside
the chamber. Drying chamber has inlet opening for air at the
bottom and outlet opening at the top of the chamber. Suction
fan is used for sucking the atmospheric air through the solar
collector and flexible pipe to the drying chamber. Then it is
allowed to flow to the atmosphere. Digital thermometer is
used for measuring the temperature in various places such
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2. TESTING REPORT
The required parameters such as time, solar intensity,
room temperature, Collector inlet temperature, outlet
temperature, weight of grain before drying, after drying can
be measured. The amount of moisture removed from wheat
grain can be calculated using the following equation Amount
of moisture contain to be removed from per Kg of Wheat
(Mw) =
|
Mp( Mi  Mf )
(100  Mf )
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International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET)
e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 06 Issue: 01 | Jan 2019
p-ISSN: 2395-0072
www.irjet.net
Chart 1 shows the weight reduction of wheat over the period
of observed time from 11.00 am to 4.30 pm for 2 Kg of wheat
Where Mp - Initial mass of product, Mi – Initial moisture
content, Mf – Final moisture content
3. CONCLUSION
Table -1: Tabulation for removal of moisture content
Weight
of the
grain
before
drying
(w1) Kg
Weight
of the
grain
after
drying
(w2) Kg
Moisture
content
removed
w=(w1w2) Kg
11.30
2
1.926
0.074
11.30
12.00
2
1.932
0.068
3
12.00
12.30
2
1.930
0.07
4
12.30
13.00
2
1.924
0.076
A simple and inexpensive solar drier was designed and
fabricated using locally sourced materials. The temperature
rise in the solar collector was up to 72o C. The drying rate,
collector efficiency & percentage of moisture removed for
drying wheat where 173 KJ/sec, 76.5% and 0.072 kg/half
an hr and respectively for the collector tilt angle 10o. If the
tilt angle is varied the above value decreases. The drier
executed sufficient ability to dry grains reasonably rapidly to
a safe moisture level and simultaneously it ensures a
superior quality of dried product. Now this modifying
concept of our project is very vital which is used for drying
grains is quicker in operation with small period of time at an
economic cost. The tilting angle of the collector is not
constant. The angle may vary, depends on the solar
radiation.
5
13.00
13.30
2
1.932
0.068
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
6
13.30
14.00
2
1.921
0.079
7
14.00
14.30
2
1.923
0.077
8
14.30
15.00
2
1.922
0.078
9
15.00
15.30
2
1.932
0.068
10
15.30
16.00
2
1.932
0.068
11
16.00
16.30
2
1.931
0.069
12
16.30
17.00
2
1.930
0.07
Avg. removal of moisture for every half an hr
0.072
Tabulation
S.
No
Loadi
ng
Time
(hrs)
Un
Loadi
ng
Time
(hrs)
1
11.00
2
The above experiments were conducted in VSVN Polytechnic
College, Virudhunagar. Our special thanks to VSVN
Polytecnic Management and our beloved principal for
allowing us to do the experiments in our institute.
REFERENCES
[1]
Mohanraj.M and Chandrasekar.P (2008), Comparision of
drying charcteristics and quality of copra obtained in a
forced convection solar drier and sun drying, Journal of
Scientific and Industrial research, 67(5), 381 – 385
[2]
Waesak.J; Chindaruksa, S.; and Punlek, C. 2006. A
mathematical modeling study of hot air drying for some
agricultural products. Thammasat International Journal
Science and Technology. 11(1): 14- 20.
[3]
Jainn D R.Nicole, and Tiwari G.N (2003) “Thermal
aspects of open sun drying of various crops. Energy
28(1) 37 – 54
BIOGRAPHIES
“Completed his PG in Thermal
Engineering and his area of
interest is Renewable Energy
sources and responsible as
Production centre in Charge”
“Completed his PG in Thermal
Engineering and his area of
interest is Renewable Energy
sources and responsible as Head of
the Department Plastic Technology
Chart -1: Weight Reduction
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Impact Factor value: 7.211
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ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal
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International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET)
e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 06 Issue: 01 | Jan 2019
p-ISSN: 2395-0072
www.irjet.net
“Completed his PG in CAD/CAM
and his area of interest is
Renewable Energy sources ,Tool
Design and responsible as Tool
Room in charge
© 2019, IRJET
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Impact Factor value: 7.211
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